Cyprinus-Like Pharyngeal Bones and Teeth
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第55卷 第3期 古 脊 椎 动 物 学 报 pp. 201-209 2017年7月 VERTEBRATA PALASIATICA figs. 1-2 Cyprinus-like pharyngeal bones and teeth (Teleostei, Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae) from the Early–Middle Oligocene deposits of South China CHEN Geng-Jiao1,2 CEN Li-Di1 LIU Juan3,4 (1 Natural History Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Nanning 530012, China [email protected]) (2 State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008, China) (3 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada) (4 Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History New York NY 10024, USA) Abstract Here we describe †Nanningocyprinus wui gen. et sp. nov, a fossil Cyprinus-like fish from the Early-Middle Oligocene deposits of Langdong, Nanning Basin, Guangxi Province, South China. †Nanningocyprinus wui is represented by a number of pharyngeal bones and teeth. It differs from all other cyprinid fishes in the following character combination: tooth formula —3·2·1, crushing molar-like A1 much larger than A2, only one groove on the grinding surface of A2 and B1 respectively, and the anterior angle of the pharyngeal bone triangular and prominent. The new-found Cyprinus-like fish, along with the previously known Late Eocene †Eoprocypris maomingensis (Procypris-like) and Oligocene †Huashancyprinus robustispinus (Cyprinus-like) from South China, further indicates an early branching and diversification of the Cyprininae (Cyprinidae) in this area. Key words Nanning Basin; Yongning Formation, Oligocene; Cyprinidae, pharyngeal bone and teeth Citation Chen G J, Cen L D, Liu J, 2017. Cyprinus-like pharyngeal bones and teeth (Teleostei, Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae) from the Early–Middle Oligocene deposits of South China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 55(3): 201–209 Many disarticulated bones of fishes and reptiles have been found from Early-Middle Oligocene deposits in Langdong, Nanning Basin, Guangxi, South China since 2000 (Chen et al., 2015a). Among them, some are the pharyngeal bones (enlarged fifth ceratobranchial) and teeth of a Cyprinus-like fish. Though fishes of Cyprinus, a genus of Cyprinidae that contains Asian Common Carp, are very common in the present freshwater fauna, little is known about their early evolution. Only one genus with one species †Huashancyprinus robustispinus, which closely related to Cyprinus, have been found from the Paleogene (Chen and Chang, 2011). Therefore, the following description of new fossil materials of Cyprinus-like fish is in need to further understanding of the morphology, diversification, distribution, and evolution 广西壮族自治区自然科学基金(编号:2013GXNSFAA019284)、现代古生物学和地层学国家重点实验室基金 (中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所) (编号:123104)和国家自然科学基金(批准号:41162002)资助。 收稿日期:2016-09-28 202 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 3 of the Cyprinus, and even the family Cyprinidae, which is the most diversified and speciose freshwater fish group (Nelson et al, 2016). 1 Materials and methods Fossil materials studied in this paper were collected from the Early–Middle Oligocene deposits in Langdong, Nanning, Guangxi, China, and are deposited in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (NHMG) with catalog numbers NHMG 033663–033672. The terminology of the pharyngeal bone and teeth is mainly based on Chu (1935). Tooth positions in the adult dentition are numbered according to Nakajima (1984). The most medial row is named main row (or row A), and lateral rows named outer and most-outer rows (or rows B and C). Tooth position is numbered from anterior to posterior in each row. So, A1, A2, and A3 represent the first, second, and third tooth of the main row (row A), whereas B1 and C1 represent the first tooth of row B and row C respectively, and so on. Each tooth consists of a enamaloid-coated crown and a dentine/ predentine-only neck region, which terms were used in Sytchevskaya (1989). The tooth base at the proximal end of a pharyngeal tooth is ankylosed to a depression on pharyngeal bone (tooth-base pit). The dagger symbol “†” is used to denote extinct taxon. 2 Systematic paleontology Superorder Ostariophysi Sagemehl, 1885 Order Cypriniformes Bleeker, 1860 Family Cyprinidae Bonaparte, 1840 Subfamily Cyprininae sensu Cavender & Coburn, 1992 Tribe Cyprinini sensu Yang et al., 2010 †Nanningocyprinus gen. nov. Etymology Nanning, name of the locality where the specimens were collected; cyprinus, genus name for carp, Latin. Type species †Nanningocyprinus wui gen. et sp. nov. Diagnosis Same as for the type and only known species. †Nanningocyprinus wui gen. et sp. nov. (Fig. 1) Etymology The species name is dedicated to the late Prof. Hsianwen Wu, who made great contributions to the study of Chinese cyprinids. Holotype NHMG 033663 (Fig. 1a–b), a nearly complete right pharyngeal bone with pharyngeal teeth A1, A2 and B1. Paratype NHMG 033665 (Fig. 1e), a nearly complete left pharyngeal bone with pharyngeal teeth A1 and B1. Chen et al. - Cyprinus-like pharyngeal bones and teeth 203 Fig. 1 pharyngeal bone and teeth of †Nanningocyprinus wui gen. et sp. nov. NHMG 033663: (a) ventro-lateral view, (b) dentigerous surface view; NHMG 033664: (c) pitted surface view, (d) dentigerous surface view; NHMG 033665: (e) dentigerous surface view; NHMG 033667: (f) dentigerous surface view Abbreviations: 1. tip of anterior limb; 2. anterior angle; P. pitted surface of pharyngeal bone; V. ventral surface of pharyngeal bone. Question mark indicates an uncertain structure that is a tooth-base pit near C1. All scale bars except (e) equal to 3 mm, scale bar of (e) equals to 1 mm 204 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 3 Referred materials NHMG 033664 (Fig. 1c–d), an incomplete right pharyngeal bone with pharyngeal teeth A1 and B1; NHMG 033666, an incomplete left pharyngeal bone with pharyngeal teeth A1 and A2; NHMG 033667 (Fig. 1f), an incomplete left pharyngeal bone with pharyngeal teeth A1, A2, and B1; and NHMG 033668–033672, incomplete pharyngeal bones with pharyngeal tooth A1. Locality and horizon Langdong, Nanning, Guangxi. Lower–Middle Oligocene, lower part of Yongning Formation. Diagnosis Dental formula —3·2·1, teeth molar-like, A1 about three to four times of A2 in size, A2 and B1 with only one transverse groove on the grinding surface. Description The overall appearance of the pharyngeal bone and teeth resembles that of the fishes in the genus Cyprinus. The pharyngeal bone is relatively broad and bending in the middle (NHMG 033663–033665). Its anterior limb is short. The surface ventral to the teeth is comparatively wide. The anterior angle is triangular and prominent, opposite to the anterior margin of A2. The anterior edentulous process is broad at the base and pointed at the tip. The pitted surface is wide and extending forward to the anterior limb. There are some foramina on the pitted surface via which nerves and blood vessels passing through (Fig. 1a, c). The dentigerous surface is moderately broad with three rows of teeth on it (Fig. 1d–f). Two rows of pharyngeal teeth, including A1, A2, and B1, were preserved in the holotype (Fig. 1b). The shape of all preserved teeth is molar-like. The teeth in the row A are much larger than that in the row B. A1 is the largest tooth with its grinding surface smooth and slightly convex. A2 is much smaller than A1, with its size about 1/3 of the latter. The length of A2 (distance in antero-posterior direction) is about half of its width (distance in mesio-lateral direction). On the grinding surface of A2, there is a transversal groove. B1 is much narrower and shorter than A2, with the length slightly shorter than the width of itself. On its grinding surface, there is a groove extending mesio-laterally as in A2. The above shape and size pattern of A1, A2, and B1 are consistently seen in all specimens, except that B1 of the holotype is somewhat compressed instead of cylindrical in the rest specimens. The pharyngeal dental formula is —3·2·1, recognized from NHMG 033664–033667 (Fig. 1d-f). Three large teeth, A1, A2, and B1, are generally well-preserved in all specimens. The crown of A3, B2, and C1 are usually missing, whereas fragmentary tooth necks/bases and/or tooth-base pits are clearly visible. 3 Discussion and conclusion 3.1 Taxonomic position of the new form The character combination of pharyngeal bone and teeth possessed by the new form †Nanningocyprinus, that three rows molar-like pharyngeal teeth with groove on the grinding surface except A1, are only seen in cyprinid fishes that belong to the genus Cyprinus Linnaeus, 1758 or †Huashancyprinus Chen & Chang, 2011 prior to this study. Although †Nanningocyprinus resembles Cyprinus and †Huashancyprinus in having three rows of molar- Chen et al. - Cyprinus-like pharyngeal bones and teeth 205 like pharyngeal teeth, the pharyngeal tooth formula —3·2·1 of †Nanningocyprinus differes from that of Cyprinus and †Huashancyprinus (—3·1·1). The intraspecific variations in the pharyngeal tooth formulae in some cyprinid fishes have been noted, however, the percentage of the variations of pharyngeal tooth formula 1·1·3—3·1·1 is significantly low. In the case of the study of Cyprinus carpio conducted by Eastman and Underhill (1973), two teeth on the row B is only 3.7% based on the observation of 380 pharyngeal bones with teeth. In the rest species of Cyprinus, as far as the available references are concerned, no tooth of B2 has been reported (Chen and Huang, 1977; Wang, 1979; Zhou and Chu, 1986; Luo and Yue, 2000; etc). In our sampled specimens, all three pharyngeal bones, preserved with the portion that B2 can be possibly ankylosed to, are observed with either tooth neck or tooth-base pit, and thus confirme the —3·2·1 formula. If there is any intraspecific variation have occurred in †Nanningocyprinus resembling that of extant cyprinids addressed by Eastman and Underhill (1973), the variation won’t significantly affect the recognition of the pharyngeal dental formula.